HE was the mobile phone salesman from Bristol who turned into an overnight superstar thanks to an audition on Britain's Got Talent. Now opera singing hero Paul Potts is helping the city to celebrate the Queen's Jubilee.
Paul will be performing in the High Sheriff of Bristol's Diamond Jubilee concert, held in Bristol Cathedral on Friday, June 15.
The concert will see the tenor, who was born in Kingswood, perform a classical arrangement with soprano Josephine Goddard and the Bristol Ensemble raising money for charity.
Paul, now 41, is in the Lake District when we speak.
"I spend my time walking and listening to music," he said. "It's the place I go to chill out and prepare for what I'm going to do next."
It's hard to believe that the international singer was little known just five years ago when he appeared on the ITV reality talent show.
Paul had grown up in Fishponds and developed his love of singing at St Mary Redcliffe and Temple School.
As a boy he also sang in the choirs of several Bristol churches. After studying at university he returned to the city and took various roles which included stints as a Bristol City Councillor and as a verger at Bristol Cathedral.
He was working as a mobile phone salesman when he performed Nessun Dorma in front of Simon Cowell and received a standing ovation from a 2,000-strong crowd.
It was to be the launch of his professional career and four million people showed their approval by supporting his first album.
He said: "I was approached about a year ago for this concert. It's great to do something at Bristol Cathedral because I used to be the verger there. The role was sort of doing odd jobs and some of the manual side of things. It's an interesting place to perform because it has a very long echo – about eight and a half to nine seconds.
"I know in the past we always had to align the choir behind the organ because it would take a while for the sound to travel. It's a beautiful place.
"I'm very privileged to be part of Bristol's Jubilee celebrations. It's such a big year for the UK with the Olympics as well."
Although he performed amateur opera in his youth illness and injury almost took Paul on a very different route. He had an adrenal tumour in 2003 and broke his collarbone in a bicycle accident. Despite not singing for years he won the first series of BGT allowing his professional career to take off.
He said: "I never really put myself forward enough in the past. I did one or two things but nothing more. I just thought it wasn't meant to be. Then in 2003 I had the tumour and then I got knocked off my bike in Filton Avenue. I thought life was trying to tell me something but I think I just misread the signs.
"The audition on BGT was going to be the end of my singing career but actually what I thought was a cul-de-sac ended up being a crossroads. My advice to people in similar situations would be to never give up. Never take life for granted."
Although he now lives in Wales when he is not touring the country Paul said he still gets time to visit Bristol. The jubilee concert will be his first performance since he played The Harbour Festival in 2010.
He said: "It doesn't feel strange to be coming back to Bristol to perform – I always look forward to it. What is strange is that this is my job now. I'm doing something that I never dreamt I would be doing. If someone had told me five years ago that this would all happen I would never have believed them.
"I love being in Bristol and I still enjoy walking around the parks. Bristol is so green and it's wonderful to walk around Snuff Mills and Brandon Hill."
The Diamond Jubilee concert will see Paul perform classical arias such has La Donna e Mobile from Rigoletto Verdi, Overture from The Marriage of Figaro, by Mozart, and Nessun Dorma.
The concert will raise money for The High Sheriff's Fund. The charity supports Bristol Youth and Community Action (BYCA), which helps provide holiday activities for vulnerable children and those from disadvantaged families.
Money will also go towards the Fitzhardinge Society which provides educational work in the city as well as for the upkeep of the Cathedral.
Andrew Nisbet, High Sheriff of Bristol for 2012/13, said: "It is a great privilege to have such a notable talent as Paul Potts singing at this year's concert and we are very much looking forward to both seeing and hearing him at what will also be a wonderful homecoming.
"He is a great ambassador for Bristol and for music in general. This really is the cornerstone of the concert and its ongoing success, which brings so much support to the High Sheriff's Fund and young people in this area."
Tickets for the concert, which starts at 7.30pm, cost £10 to £50. For more information call 0117 946 8184.
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